5 Trivial Things About Eames
by Strange.x.And.x.Beautiful
Summary: Adriane tries to find out something, anything about Eames, so he decides to tell her just 5 random things about himself. Eames/Ariadne Friendship. Rating changed due to chapter 4 which is rated M.
1. Arsenal

**5 Trivial Things About Eames**

Summary: Adriane tries to find out something, anything, about Eames and she'll do just about anything to get the information.

**Characters do not belong to me, they belong to Chris Nolan, sadly.**

**I got this idea when writing up a different chapter for another fic, but this goes into the subject matter a little bit more and it's told in a totally different way. If your confused, don't worry, i'm rambling, it's late where i am, that's my excuse.**

**So anyway, enjoy**

Ariadne and Eames were walking along Tottenham Court Road on a Saturday; it was a derby between two London football teams, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. She spotted his mouth turn up into a smirk and she had to ask him why.

"Do you support one of those teams?"

"Why would you think that?" Eames replied as he examined a wallet he'd just lifted from a Tottenham supporter's jacket pocket.

"By that gesture I'm guessing you support the team in red."

"Again, why would you assume that?" Eames handed half of the pound notes he found to Ariadne which came to a tidy sum of £50 each. The driver's license would come in handy once he'd changed the picture, and he was sure the pin for the guy's bank card would be hidden somewhere in the wallet. "Maybe I just come here for the sport."

"By sport, you're trying to suggest pick pocketing? Am I right?"

"For one so small, you really do have too many questions buzzing around in that brain of yours."

Ariadne gave a smirk of her own before placing a hand on his bicep to bring them to a stop. "If you answered at least one of my questions I wouldn't feel the need to harass you so much."

"But then I'd be less interesting to you, darling. This whole situation is just a load of swings and roundabouts."

"Just tell me something, anything. It doesn't have to be important. Most friends do the whole sharing thing"

He looked away to towering presence of White Hart Lane football stadium and then back to take a long look at Ariadne. She had one of those scarves on that she usually wore, but it was red, just like the Arsenal shirts people were wearing around them. He decided he'd tell her 5 things about himself. It was 5 more than anyone else were to get out of him, but the way this girl looked at him, he found it hard to say no to her request. He then decided he'd tell her on 5 different occasions, when he felt it was right moment to.

"Ok, yes I am a supporter of one of these teams. Not the ones in white, Spurs are just a bunch of Yids in my opinion. I am an Arsenal fan."

"Can you tell me why? I know its pushing it but, please?" She looked at him with those big brown eyes and the partly hidden smile and he wanted to tell her more, but he knew he shouldn't.

"Oh, Ariadne. Don't give me the face."

"What face?" she laughed as she tried to emphasise her expression, "this one?"

"Yes," he laughed in return, "that face."

"Pretty, pretty please?"

"Stop it, before I leave you on your own to fend for yourself."

"Oooh, hotdog." Ariadne took the hint and walked over to the hot food stall and brought a hotdog with onions, tomato sauce and mustard, she started eating as if she hadn't eaten in a week.

Eames looked over impressed; this small girl could certainly eat like one of the boys. If she liked the football he might actually bring her here again, he hadn't been to a game with another person since he was ten.

"Ok, you've got me!" he shouted over just as Ariadne was on her way back from the hotdog stall.

"You'll tell me?" her face lit up like a light bulb as she rubbed some sauce from her cheek with the back of her hand.

"My grandfather got me into football at the tender age of six; he himself was an Arsenal fan." Eames explained as they made their way up to the turnstiles, Ariadne finished her hotdog in silence as he told her this snippet of information. As they got closer he handed her a ticket and then gave his to the steward for admission. Once they were inside the ground he guided Ariadne to their seats in the home fans stand.

"At the weekend I'd visit my granddad and he'd take me to Highbury to watch Arsenal play. Those were possibly the best weekends of my little life before I left the U.K, I remember them so well. We went up until I was ten. He then had a stroke and died soon after. I didn't have anyone to come with me after that so I just stopped going. This is the first time I've seen a live football game in twenty years." Eames smiled at her solemnly as he looked onto the pitch for the first time.

"Oh Eames, I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry for? It's not your fault he died." Eames patted her knee.

"I know, but it's the thing you say isn't it?"

"Well I'm glad you're here with me, even if it is a dream."

"What do you mean?" Ariadne asked, taken aback.

"I'm sorry to tell you this love, but you've put rugby goalposts in. English football goals are usually a lot smaller and have a net, they're very similar to the American soccer goals" He laughed as he caught her blushing. "Creative though, _very_ creative, I almost believed we were back in London, you nearly had me."

"I knew I should've double checked." She scolded herself. "Was any of your story true?"

"Now if I told you that I'd have to kill you." He replied with an almost serious face, "But I take my hat off to you Ariadne, very good try."

"Well don't you think for my efforts I should be rewarded?"

Eames gave a great sigh and looked onto the pitch in amusement. "As my grandfather would've said, God rest his soul. "If you don't ask, you don't get". So yes, what I told you is true. But if you tell another living soul, I really will have to kill you. People would pay good money for information like that and I'm trusting you, Ariadne to keep it to yourself. I'm literally trusting you with my life."

"Jeez Eames, are you really this paranoid about your past?"

"I told you this would make me less interesting to you."

"I'm still interested, but next time, don't bother with the speech. I won't tell anyone, under pain of death. Your secrets are safe with me."

"Good." Eames fell to the floor and woke up in his apartment, Ariadne followed soon after. "Let's leave it six to eight weeks, shall we?" he said as she got up and he escorted her out without a goodbye.

Ariadne stood in the hallway she smiled, so he was a soccer fan. Well, that was a start.

**I have a 2 or 3 ideas for trivial things about Eames but any suggestions from readers are very welcome, the more random they are the better.**

**Reviews = love**


	2. Siblings

**Siblings**

******Thanks to those who reviewed with suggestions, i am taking them into account, there could be possibly one in the next chapter. Well here's titbit number 2, enjoy!**

Eames stood outside Ariadne's apartment door as he waited for her to come out and take him to lunch. It had been a month since he'd told her about his favourite football team and Eames had been trying to avoid her, however, she was persistent and finally wore him down to come and have lunch as a form of apology for invading his privacy.

She opened the door with a breezy smile and gestured him in, he saw that she was in the middle of a phone call with someone.

"Really? Katie's pregnant. That's wonderful! How far along is she?"

Ariadne motioned to take a seat on the couch; she was going to be a while by the looks of it.

"I'll be sure to send my congratulations on to her. I'll come and visit in the summer, I promise."

Eames mock sighed loudly to get her attention and when she looked at him he pointed to his solid silver Rolex watch.

"Mom, I know its half a year away but I've got work commitments here." She grabbed a cushion and threw it at him before walking into the kitchenette, he caught it and smirked as he knew it was getting under her skin, she was so much fun to taunt.

"I'm sure you're more than enough support for her. Katie doesn't need her youngest sister worrying over her as well as you, and I'm sure Juno's got it covered as well."

Eames got up from where he was sitting and sauntered over to the kitchenette at a lazy pace, he leant against the wall propped up by his elbow and watched her trace the outline of a cup on the counter; she liked to keep her hands busy at all times.

"It would be great to have everyone there but I can't right now. It's seven months away; I'll be there for the due date. Look, we'll talk about this later, ok? I'm going out for lunch and my friend looks like he's about to faint with starvation."

Eames couldn't help but smirk when he heard a change in Ariadne's mother's tone of voice.

"Yes, we're just friends." Ariadne hissed as she gave him a fake smile and turned away before she started blushing. "I'll talk to you later, Mom. Take care, bye."

Ariadne returned the phone to its cradle without looking Eames in the eye; her Mom could be so embarrassing at times and she wasn't even in the same country.

"So who's Katie?" Eames asked to breeze over her embarrassment.

"She's my sister, eldest sister."

"And Juno?"

"She's my other sister; she's also older than me, I have a younger brother too, his name is Alexander."

"Quite a big family you have there."

"Yup. All six of us. You should see the chaos at Christmas."

"I can only imagine."

She opened her mouth as if to ask whatever was on her mind but then closed it again. Ariadne had learnt her lesson from last time, she didn't want Eames to give out any more information unwillingly, she'd been racked with guilt the past month and she hated him not being around, it made her edgy.

Eames caught the gesture and knew exactly what she wanted to ask. It was time for trivial fact number 2.

"I have a younger sister; her name is Maddie. Madeline Eames if you want to be formal. She's about eighteen now, although I haven't seen her since she was four. There's a big age gap between us if you hadn't guessed, well, that's because my dad remarried when I was a teenager, but we won't go into that. Maddie lives with my dad in Islington, so far as I know. The last picture I saw was on her sixteenth birthday, a friend of mine from home sent it to me. She's pretty, she takes after her mother, although, she does remind me of you a little. She's small, about 5'2, like you, and she's got this long brown hair, about shoulder length, but it's not wavy like yours, its dead straight. She's got this beautiful wide smile, you can see it in the photo, you can't fake the happiness in it. It makes me happy to just focus on her smile. You wouldn't be able to tell we're related, we're like Ying and Yang supposedly, but we do have the same colour eyes, a genetic trait from our father no doubt."

"So you have different mothers, but the same father?"

"Yes." Eames didn't like to talk about his mother.

"Have you ever thought of visiting her, your sister? It sounds like you miss her."

"No, she's doing fine as she is. She's done without me for the last fourteen years the worst I could do is to go home now and stir up trouble."

"Are you really in that much trouble back home? So much trouble that you can't even see your own sister?"

"Well, yes and no. But once again I can't have you knowing all my secrets darling, so can we just drop it, please?"

"You should consider it, Eames. I know my family drive me crazy; especially my Mom but they're my family at the end of the day, I'm always gonna be there for them."

"I know she's fine, that's good enough for me. Now that's all you're getting, come on let's go before I really do feint from starvation."

Ariadne grabbed her coat in pensive thought, she wanted to know more but she wouldn't push him, he was as stubborn as a mule, maybe he'd tell her more someday, she hoped. They walked in companionable silence as made their way to a restaurant just five minutes away. Ariadne couldn't resist trying to get something out of him one more time.

"So, where did you live in England?"

"Nice try Ariadne, but the train to the past has already departed and there will be no more running for the foreseeable present." Eames said as he pulled the chair back for her.

"It was worth a shot." She smiled.

**Reviews = love**

**Trivial suggestions for Eames are still welcome, the more random the better :)**


	3. Jobs

**Jobs**

******This one was inspired by a few reviews and a PM, so I hope its good enough. I would've posted this last night but my internet provider decided to crash on me :( but its up again now!**

**Enjoy!**

Eames had suggested they take a trip to the zoo, it was a Saturday and they'd recently finished a job so he thought he'd treat Ariadne with a day out and another trivial fact.

They had been walking around for about an hour and had entered the 'Arachnid House'. It was dark inside and Ariadne felt like the insects were crawling over her skin. Eames noticed her discomfort but chose not to say anything, he wanted to see if she'd stick it out or not, it was a test of guts.

He guided her over to one of the handlers who had a Tarantula in his hands and was letting members of the public hold it. She looked at Eames with worry and he smiled at her.

"Here's the deal," Eames started. "You hold that big scary Tarantula for at least two minutes, and I'll tell you something about me."

"You know I hate spiders, that's torture." She cringed.

"It's a form of torture for me to give away my secrets, but I do it, just for you."

She looked at the spider and grimaced, did she really want to know what he was going to tell her? She looked back at him and decided, yes, she did want to know. Anything about him was interesting, even more so because no one else had probably heard this information before. She could suck it up and hold a Tarantula for two minutes, how hard could it be?

"You ready? It's your turn." The handler said as he brought the spider towards her.

"Yes, I'm ready." Ariadne took a deep breath and tried not to focus on what was coming towards her now outstretched palms.

The handler placed it gently onto her hands and Ariadne gave out a squeak as its bristly legs started moving around her skin.

"During my spare time I helped out at London Zoo." Eames announced, Ariadne's mouth dropped open and she focused on his eyes while she concentrated on what he was saying, it was distracting her from what was currently crawling over her palms.

"I'd always been fond of animals, and I spent a lot of time hanging around the zoo to look at them. I even went as far as going to the library and reading up about certain animals, and I don't especially like to read. My visits became a regular occurrence and I made friends with one of the handlers in the aquarium. His name was George; I became his sort of apprentice. I think I spent more time working in the aquarium than I did at school. But my real passion lay with the big cats. The lions, the tigers, the panthers, I'd always found those the most fascinating, but I was too young to handle the cats. They told me I couldn't help with them because of health and safety, blah, blah, blah. Although one birthday they allowed me into the enclosure to feed the Siberian Tiger, her name was Leia, beautiful she was and as soppy as ninepence too."

"I'll just take that from you." The handler interrupted as he scooped the Tarantula up with ease from Ariadne's hands; she exhaled loudly and smiled at Eames.

"See, wasn't that bad was it?" Eames smirked.

"I won't be doing it again in a hurry, I assure you."

"Well you've only got two more bits of information left to extract from me, I wonder what else I could make you do."

"Just two more left to share?"

"I promised myself you'd only get five, so I'm sticking to it."

"They better be good then."

"Are you trying to say what I've told you so far isn't good enough for you?"

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Because I could tell you two things that you will find completely and utterly boring, like how I like my eggs and who my celebrity crush is. Do you really want that Ariadne?" Eames teased, although he led her to believe that he was being serious.

"No, no I don't want that!"

"You'd think you'd have learnt by now that this stuff isn't easy for me. Back in London, the smallest piece of information could be used against me, and even now when I'm being looked for across the globe, that information could be used for money."

"I'm sorry. Its just I want to know more about you, I get passionate about things i'm interested in, it's in my nature, I guess. It was the same with Cobb; I needed to know more to understand him. I really do apologise, I know this isn't easy for you, sometimes I forget that. Forgive me?"

Eames scrutinized her carefully, she did look sorry, but he still thought he'd teach her a lesson.

"Well, I like my eggs hardboiled with soldiers and what I would_ give_ to spend the evening with Angelina Jolie." Eames smirked as he saw the sincerity drop from her face.

"You're not serious?"

"Oh I am."

"So, no more information?"

"No more, that's your lot."

"Thanks a lot, Eames!"

Ariadne stormed off with a face like thunder. Eames had gone too far this time he realised and it was going to take something very interesting to win her friendship back.

He scoured the zoo for her but came to the conclusion she'd probably gone home instead. He tried calling a few times but it just went to answer phone, she wasn't going to forgive him easily. After what felt like the hundredth time he decided to leave an apology, the answer message bleeped and he started talking,

"Ariadne, I know you don't want to talk me at the moment, but I'm calling to say sorry. My teasing went a little too far today, and those two things are not the important facts I want to tell you, far from it. I realise I am a complete and utter arse but I hope you'll forgive me. I never expected to become friends with you and I'm so glad that we did, if I lose you now I'd go back to my old ways, just globe trotting with no purpose but to turn a pretty penny. I apologise to you from the deepest recesses of my Forger's heart, and the next trivial thing I tell you will be worth talking to me again, I promise. You know you can't resist that. Call me back, please?"

Ariadne returned later that evening from dinner with Arthur, she hadn't seen him for a while and he'd appeared at the zoo by the dolphin pool as she was storming away from Eames. She was happy to see the Point Man; she'd missed him and his adult conversation. He'd taken her to an Italian restaurant where she'd had spaghetti bolognaise and he'd had lasagne. Ariadne had griped about her argument with Eames and Arthur leant a sympathetic ear.

"He drives me crazy sometimes, you know?"

"I definitely know the feeling." Arthur smiled reservedly.

"All he's letting me know is five things about him, and I stupidly let myself become enticed by that. And then we ended up arguing, and he gave me two really stupid facts, and now this whole thing is over, and I'm just...so angry with him."

"Eames is letting you know things about him?" his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Personal stuff? Like where he grew up, if he has parents, that kind of stuff."

"Yeah." Ariadne pushed some unfinished spaghetti round her plate.

"Does he have parents?" he asked coyly.

She looked up at him and smiled, "I promised not to tell anyone."

Arthur knew how to make her feel better.

"But he's misplaced your trust."

"I still promised him, Arthur. Besides, you might use it against him or something."

"You're learning fast." Arthur smiled back, he took her hand and squeezed it, "Look, I'm sure he's sorry, it was probably a heat of the moment thing. He cares about you Ariadne, if he's willing to share his personal life with you, you obviously mean a lot to him. Don't worry about it, he'll apologise soon enough, it's a British thing, they apologise for anything."

"Thanks." Ariadne squeezed his hand back.

After closing the door to her apartment Ariadne put her coat in the closet and put her keys in the dish, she then made her way over to the coffee table and pressed play on the answer machine.

"Ariadne, I know you don't want to talk me at the moment…"

Arthur was right, Eames had called to apologise. She didn't want to call back just yet she decided to let him stew for another 24 hours, after all, he deserved it. But Ariadne knew that she would call him back tomorrow; he'd promised it'd tell her something good so she was holding him to it, he knew she wouldn't resist.

**Reviews = love**

**I hope you liked the little insert of Arthur. **

**As always, suggestions are welcome :)**

**P.S. A few people have said about Eames favourite colour, i'm not going to use it in the story, but it is red, because of his favourite football team.**


	4. The Past

**The Past**

******This chapter is rated M, there is a frequent mention of drugs, you'll have to read on to see why mwhaha. This chapter is pretty long too, Eames and I promised it'd be a good one :)**

**Enjoy!**

Ariadne had agreed to meet Eames at his apartment, it had been two days since the zoo fiasco and he'd promised her something good, she hoped he kept his promise. She knocked hesitantly at the door and he welcomed her inside with an uneasy smile.

She walked down the cream coloured hall and was instantly surprised. He had two pictures hanging on the wall; she wasn't expecting that, she had assumed that because he wouldn't share his personal life that he wouldn't keep mementos, but Eames just kept on surprising her. Ariadne recognised the picture of Maddie, it was just how Eames described his sister. She had her brown hair tied up into a ponytail, her blue eyes, so like her older brother's, were looking over at someone out of the photograph, and she had a wide laughing smile that lit up her face making her look beautiful. It seemed good genes ran in the Eames family.

The second photograph was different; it had been taken in a photo booth by the looks of it. There were creases horizontally and vertically as if it had been kept in a wallet for some time before assuming its place on the wall. The colour had also faded a little as it had aged in the frame. Eames was in the picture, Ariadne knew straight away it was him; he had his head thrown back in laughter, and there was a red lipstick kiss on his left cheek. He looked so different, so carefree, like nothing mattered but that moment in time. His smile, just like his sister's, lit up his face making him look handsome, Ariadne smiled too as she studied it. She soon noticed there was another person in the booth with him. She was a petite and slender woman, about a size 6, and looked somewhat glamorous with her delicate gold jewellery and faux fur bolero. She was younger than Eames but Ariadne guessed only by a couple of years, they both looked in their twenties, Eames about twenty five and this woman about twenty two. She had honey blonde hair shaped into a bob that came to her chin and evergreen coloured eyes lined with black kohl to emphasise them. She too was smiling with the red lipstick lips that had marked his cheek; however to Ariadne this woman's smile seemed more reserved in contrast to Eames carefree laughter. She was sitting on his lap and they were facing each other, Ariadne guessed Eames was laughing at something this woman had said. She had one arm draped over his shoulders and the other at her side. Ariadne noticed she was wearing a chunky silver and onyx ring on her index finger and she could vaguely see a silver (although she had a nagging feeling it was platinum) diamond ring on the woman's third finger. Ariadne came to the conclusion they had been engaged.

"See something you like?" Eames teased as Ariadne had been studying the picture for a full five minutes.

"Who is she?" Ariadne turned to look at him suddenly in awe. Eames had been a committed man; it was a lot to take in.

"Now you've ruined my surprise for you, spoilsport."

"You've got her picture hanging in your hallway, its hard for me not to notice. She's got an engagement ring on! This woman is important to you otherwise the picture wouldn't be here, it'd be burnt or thrown away or in an apartment you used to live in, the fact that you've brought it with you means something."

"You're too perceptive, even for a woman." Eames grumbled as walked away from her and entered the kitchen to pour himself a tumbler of whiskey on the rocks.

"I'll just have orange juice." She said as she followed him and took a stool opposite the breakfast counter.

Eames downed the large measure of whiskey in one gulp, gritted his teeth at the aftertaste and poured himself another before going to the fridge and getting a carton of Minute Maid Orange Juice out for Ariadne.

"This constitutes as a big thing, maybe the only big thing I will ever tell you, I haven't decided quite yet. But this is me apologising for yesterday so I feel obliged to tell you something important. However, I am warning you it's not exactly light-hearted like the others things I've told you, it's pretty dark and messed up and probably a core reason why I never let anyone know much about me."

"You've got me is suspense, tell me already." Ariadne replied eagerly.

"That beautiful woman in that picture is Ava Callahan; she was once destined to be my wife, many, many moons ago." Eames started as he took another gulp of the whiskey.

"That photo was taken five months into our courtship, she was twenty two and I was twenty five. We were together for a year in total. I let her move into my flat after the first two months, we were happy and in love for most of the time we were together, but it became sour towards the end, I'll explain that later. All of this was a couple of years before I got in on the dream stuff; this was just after I'd stumbled into becoming a lackey for a well known mob boss in London. My job was part of the reason I left Maddie's life, my father didn't want anything to happen to them if things got ugly, so he moved away to Kent and I had nothing more to do with them. It was hard at first but didn't want anything to happen to my baby sister, so I kept my promise, have done to this very day."

"So that's why you can't go back and see Maddie, because you got on the wrong side of a mob boss?"

"Did I look like I was finished to you?" Eames asked cuttingly, he didn't mean to sound that way, but it hurt to talk about these things and he wanted it to be over as soon as possible. The whiskey was his anaesthetic right now, numbing the pain slowly but surely.

"No, sorry, please continue." Ariadne understood.

"Ava loved our lifestyle, we could afford the good things in life. She was middle class and only dreamed about things like that before I came along. I had an apartment in Chelsea overlooking the football ground, although I would've rather been overlooking Highbury, but I digress. Living in Chelsea means you've got money, and I liked that feeling of importance, that feeling of status, I was someone to be taken notice of. The amount of money I earned meant I could afford to bring Ava home little extravagancies from Tiffany's every month or so, or that I could treat her to a shopping trip at Oxford Street every other weekend, I was on the high end of the mob payroll and unfortunately I was good at my job. About six months into our relationship my darling little Ava was introduced to cocaine by one of her friends on a night out; Ava knew I was in on my boss's dealings with the stuff and asked me to feed her addiction, although in not so many words."

Eames poured himself another measure and looked over at Ariadne with unease, he knew she didn't approve but he didn't know if she was going to verbalise her feelings with him on not.

"Look, I told you this was going to get dark. I want to remind you this is the person I used to be, I am in no way, shape or form that person now. I've learnt from my mistake."

She just stared at him and drained the last of her first glass of orange; she refilled the glass and nodded to say he could continue.

"I admit, at first I got her the cocaine. Not massive amounts, it was only supposed to be a recreational thing, I never did it myself, I hated to think what really went into that stuff, I never wanted her to do it but she begged and pleaded with me and I loved her so much I couldn't say no, the fool that I was. The habit got worse over the next coming months; she was more interested in the drugs than the jewellery, the clothes, anything else I could've brought with money, she even lost interest in me, physically. Not to go into too much detail, but before the drugs we had a pretty healthy sex life, which fizzled out the more cocaine she took. I tried everything to get her to stop. I tried refusing her, kicking her out for the evening, locking her in so she couldn't go out and get more; I brought the smallest supply I could manage to keep Ava under control. Nothing worked. She became unhappy with my attempts to divert her attention from the cocaine, so she went behind my back; she started buying the drugs out of her own money, sniffing it before I got home so when I found her I couldn't do a thing, by then she was on a comedown and she usually turned nasty and blamed me for her addiction. There were days when I wanted to pack my bags and leave her to it, but I couldn't, she was going to be my wife, I was committed no matter what happened. Ava's money soon ran out, and she knew I wouldn't contribute so she went straight to the dealer and asked for credit. Now you never ask a dealer for credit, that's how bad things happen to female drug addicts because the dealer isn't interested in the money any more, they're interested in _other_ forms of payment."

Ariadne could see where this was going but she didn't dare speak, she was too in shock to answer. She was horrified to think that the woman in the picture had spiralled out of control like that and dreaded to think what had happened next, she could only assume the worst, death. Eames drained his third tumbler and began to feel the effects of the alcohol, it wasn't long now till he got to the worst bit, it was nearly over.

"She still loved me and told him no, she could do fine without the drugs, she could stop whenever she liked. But the dealers always know better. She didn't return home for a fortnight, she was more interested in finding the drugs than coming home to me. Word got around that my Ava was down on her luck with an addiction that she couldn't break, and a stubbornness that wouldn't allow her to go home. She was approached by a guy who offered her a gram of cocaine and a place to stay for the night, for free. Now the Ava I first met would find this offer too good to be true, anyone in their right mind would, but she was desperate so she jumped at the chance. He took her back and good to his word he didn't make her do anything as a form of repayment, at first. She stayed another three days in a drug induced state. If she wasn't totally addicted before Ava well and truly was now, she couldn't go three hours without a hit. That was when he struck, he came back one night, took her to the bed and pinned her down with his hips and demanded that she tell him everything she knew about me otherwise he'd rape her then dump her in the Thames."

Eames gripped the counter tightly and considered downing another measure of whiskey but he thought against it, he couldn't let Ariadne see him anymore vulnerable than he already was.

"She was scared and totally convinced that he would carry out his threat so she told him everything she knew. Where we lived, who my boss was, what jobs I had been running while she'd been dating me. She told him who my mother was, where she was living. Ava never told them about my father and Maddie because I'd denied their existence; I couldn't take a chance with anyone about them so I said they were dead. I never gave their names and I went by my mother's maiden name in those days which was Shepherd. Ava told them my favourite places in London, people that I could run to, places I wanted to go to. Every little thing we'd discussed over the year we'd known each other she told them if she thought it was any use. After a few slaps to her face he was satisfied by her answers and threw her enough cocaine for half a hit, he then threw her out into the street and called her a junkie whore. She came home and told me what happened, she threw her arms around me and sobbed, apologising profusely, she said she was sure they were going to send someone round to get me if I didn't leave right then. I never even got to express how angry I was before the shots rang out, I escaped by the skin of my teeth. I stole a car, drove to Dover and jumped on the ferry to France. I had my wallet and somehow my passport, Ava must've slipped it in my pocket knowing I'd rather be angry at her then think straight. I withdrew as much money as I could from each different credit card then dumped them in a trash can in Lille, I wouldn't need them anymore, and it'd be too easy for my whereabouts to be tracked. I found someone who could forge passports a week or so later and then my new life as a petty thief started, forging identities in dreams came about a year after that."

Ariadne couldn't find the words to express how she felt. Now she knew why he had been so tight lipped about his past, he was afraid that something like that would happen all over again, someone would sell him out for their addiction, whether it was drugs, money or power. She reached across the counter and squeezed his hand.

"What happened to Ava? Do you know?"

"Last I heard she sold everything to feed the addiction. After that I know nothing. Although while I was in Mombasa I received something that had been dropped off in the lobby" He opened the cutlery draw and placed a silver ring with a diamond on the counter.

Ariadne gasped and picked it up to study if it really was the same ring from the picture, she was 99% certain it was.

"There was no note, just an envelope with my pseudonym Richard Levi. It'd been five years since I'd left Ava, I don't know if she sent it personally or if it was someone else, but I checked out of the hotel there and then and moved across town to another hotel. Cobb showed up the next day which gave me a distraction and I met you the day after."

He actually managed to smile at that point, it was brief, but definitely a ghost of his famous smirk. Then as if the gesture exhausted him Eames fluidly flopped across the counter so his face was inches away from hers. Ariadne put the ring back down and looked into his eyes. They were filled with sadness; she could tell he didn't like recounting this story. She smiled at him to let him know everything was ok, she was here now and she wouldn't be going anywhere.

"Am I forgiven?" He asked huskily.

"You are forgiven, and you have a four argument pass." She said as she stroked his stubbly cheek with her hand.

"Told you it was worth it."

He leaned forward as if to kiss her but Ariadne straightened up and kissed his forehead.

"I think you've had too much whiskey."

"I think I agree with you."

"Go and lie down, you've had a big evening. I'll come check on you in the morning."

Ariadne picked up her red coloured scarf and her thin black cardigan and made her way to the door.

"Ariadne!"

She stopped and turned around to see Eames leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway with an apologetic smile on his face.

"Thanks. And I'm sorry; it's a self defence thing."

"Its fine, goodnight Eames."

**Reviews = love**

**i'm still not totally sure what i'm going to use for the last fact so suggestions are very welcome :)**


	5. A Very Personal Letter

A Very Personal Letter

**Sorry this last chapter took so long, I had a few ideas how this would end and finally came up with this. A thanks goes out to Decki as well, their review gave me the prod I needed to finish it off. Apologies once again (because i'm British).**

**Enjoy!**

Monday, 6th September, Ariadne remembers the date well. She'd woken to find a letter on her bedside table. She didn't quite know how it got there but she knew exactly who it was from. She had a feeling that nothing good would come from this letter so Ariadne left it sitting there as she started her daily chores.

About three in the afternoon she tried to call Eames' mobile but it went straight through to answer phone, she frowned but continued working away with her sketches to put it to the back of her mind. She tried again two hours later and irritatingly received the same result. Admitting defeat she knew it was time to find out what the letter said, so with shaky hands she opened it and began to read:

_My Dearest Ariadne,_

_Sorry for the short notice darling but I've had to love you and leave you. I bet you've left this letter till late evening and are more than likely pissed off with me because my phone is switched off, no doubt you've tried it a couple of times already. I'm telling you now, don't attempt it again; it's residing at the bottom of a lake._

_If you hadn't guessed by now I'm on the run again, it would seem someone managed to find me; obviously I have been far too conspicuous, which is absurd don't you think? I'm the epitome of discreet! But don't worry, you're safe, they know nothing about you._

_Now, I'm not a mind reader but I'm guessing right now that you were more worried about my last piece of information than the fact that somebody could be after you, and before you start to feel guilty about this fact, remember we did agree that it would be five things and we both know I'm not entirely sure when it would be safe to see you again, so it is only fair that I give the last one up now._

_My full name is Thomas Connor Eames; I was born in Central London on 15__th__ September 1977. Sorry you're going to miss my birthday, although I probably wouldn't have told you if we were under different circumstances. My mother's name was Annie Shepherd and my father's is Thomas Sr. I have a half sister whom you already know about, apart from her, I have no other siblings that I'm aware of._

_I'm sure most would find these details boring but you know by now that these are my most coveted secrets so I hope you see it as a sign that I trust you implicitly, which I never do with people. I suppose since I've started you should know the rest..._

_Cobb would probably tell you this if you ask, but I met him in Las Vegas a couple of years back. I was losing at Black Jack miserably (for argument sake I say it was on purpose). I was studying the croupier for an extraction job for my then employers; they were only small time, extracting information that gave them access to the safe and money etc. Cobb was the big time, even then. He'd heard about me through other connections, and been told I'd shown promising potential, so he came and poached me that evening. I didn't join him easily; it involved a lot of persuasion on his part, mainly more whiskey in my tumbler and a much more satisfying wage packet. Then the next morning before I had time to banish my hangover we were off to Dubai to extract some valuable information from a Sultan. It's not exactly flash or overly exciting but that's mine and Cobb's relationship for you._

_How I met Yusuf is much more interesting. Once again, I was gambling, but in New Delhi this time and Yusuf had pissed off the bar owner by giving him sleeping tablets instead of Viagra. The gentleman's mistress couldn't wake him up for ten hours, and his wife nearly cottoned on to the affair so far as I could make out. After the first punch was thrown I jumped in and helped Yusuf out; he was curled up on the floor apologising like it was going out of fashion as the guy went to kick him and I hate witnessing an unfair fight. I won the fight and we were both barred but we've been friends ever since. Then when Yusuf started his experiments with sedatives in Mombasa I thought it rude not to join him; then Inception started up, and you know the rest._

_I won't go into too much into mine and Arthur's history but he's disliked me ever since I dream shared with him once and impersonated a girl that he was seeing at the time, but that's all I'm telling you. However, if you want to try and coax it out of him you have my blessing. _

_On a more serious note, sorry but I have to put it in...You'll need to know that if I die I would like to be cremated and my ashes spread back home. Don't give me that look; I know you'll be pulling it right now. It's a 'just in case' thing, this doesn't mean that I've gone to my death, how silly would that be? I wouldn't get to see you again._

_And on an even more serious note, when I next appear I will be expecting steak and chips on the table with a can of Fosters and a raspberry trifle to follow. _

_I hope you find this information sufficient enough and I will try and get in touch when things ease off a bit. I really didn't want to go if that helps, I've had a lot of fun over the past couple of months. I apologise, I'm rubbish at goodbyes, even in letters._

_Please stay safe Ari._

_Missing you terribly already,_

_Eames_

_P.S. You look very sweet while you sleep, especially when you snore._

Ariadne finished reading and held the paper close to her chest for a while. He'd gone and left her, just waltzing as quickly out of her life as he had into it.

There was a knock on her door and she froze, if Eames was playing a joke it wasn't funny in the slightest. She hid his letter in the cookie jar she never used and tried to compose herself as she answered it.

"I thought you might want some company." Arthur said as he pulled her into a hug.

"You always show up at the right time don't you Arthur." She smiled.

"Eames called it in as a favour, but I did it more for you than him."

"Thanks. You two are too good to me."

"We try." Arthur shrugged his blazer off and hung it on the rack. "So how did you know he'd gone? I was expecting to have to break the news to you."

"He left a quick scribble saying how bad at goodbyes he is."

"That definitely sounds like him."

"Yeah, just like Eames." Ariadne smiled cryptically as her eyes hovered over to the cookie jar. Oh how little Arthur knew.

**The ending kinda sucks but it's now complete yay!**

**Reviews = love!**


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